Ideas for a livelier Main Street could cost taxpayers $375,000

City Hall is seeking a consultant to craft ideas to make Main Street a more desirable destination, another step as the officials and the street’s leadership continue their long-running efforts to further enliven Main Street.

The municipal government has posted an advertisement for a consultant on its website. The proposals are due on Dec. 7. City Hall indicates the work by the consultant should cost between $275,000 and $375,000. The actual improvements, seen as being of the brick-and-mortar variety, are expected to be much more expensive, though.

In documentation posted as part of the advertisement, City Hall says it wants a consultant to draft two concepts for a plaza at the site of the Brew Pub parking lot at the southern end of the street. It also says City Hall wants one concept each for both Miners Park and Coalition Park.

"Plazas should include complementary uses, attractions and amenities needed to create ‘place,’" the documentation says.

Meanwhile, City Hall is requesting ideas to enhance the streetscape and the pedestrian access. Some of the topics officials want addressed include an assessment of the bulb-outs on Main Street, the possibility of replacing the sidewalks and ideas about furnishings like benches and bicycle racks.

A selection committee plans to review the submittals during the week of Dec. 11. The group will include City Hall staffers and members of an infrastructure committee of the Historic Park City Alliance, an organization that represents the interests of businesses on or just off of Main Street. Interviews would be conducted the week of Dec. 18 if they are needed.

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An agreement with one of the firms would be brought to the Park City Council in January, possibly Jan. 12, with an agreement finalized by Jan. 18.

The timeline calls for the consultant to hit a series of deadlines starting in February and running until April.

The schedule is anticipation of City Hall’s annual budget talks, which are held in the spring and the early summer. The City Council is expected to spend significant time on Main Street improvements during next year’s budget talks. The improvements could run into the millions of dollars.

Main Street leaders argue that the improvements are needed as the street competes against increased competition from new shopping, dining and entertainment options in the Snyderville Basin.